I Admire, I Desire

A Pleasure Project Exhibition
SOL Gallery
25 Jan - 5 Feb 2023 

An exhibition space with white walls and concrete floors. There is a large scale painting of two naked AFAB people on the right on a bed with snacks and a laptop. There are a collection of paintings, photographs and a white vase.

Installation view of works by Wee Moody Judy, Laura Du Ve, Clitopatra and Jasmine Crisp.

ARTISTS
Cat Jones
Clitopatra 
Frances Cannon
Ggggrimes
J Davies
Jasmine Crisp


Kitty Chrystal
Laura Du Vé
Little Eyes Alien
Sara Lorusso
Shreya Shetty
Wee Moody Judy

CURATORS
Madeline Ferme
Tor Evans

Curatorial Overview

White gallery with concrete floors featuring three white ceramic works on a white plinth and table, four photographic works and two large scale digital drawings affixed to the walls.

Installation view of works by Shreya Shetty, Wee Moody Judy and Kitty Chrystal.

'I Admire, I Desire' took its cue from a common conundrum faced by queer women and gender diverse people —"Do I want to be them, or do I want to be with them?"

For many queer people, the line between admiration and romantic or sexual desire can be blurred, particularly as heteronormative society has so often blocked us from contemplating diverse gender identities for ourselves, as well as the possibility of queer attraction. Rather than focusing on the admire/desire phenomenon as a product of the constraints of heteronormativity, the exhibition explored the freedom, beauty, humour, joy and complexity found in these liminal spaces. 

The exhibition proposed that there is not one singular way to encounter the admire/desire conundrum, as they are not binary opposites. Artists featured in the exhibition highlighted abroad spectrum of these experiences, including admiring and desiring oneself throughout transition, experiencing self-pleasure and fantasy, exploring attraction in queer friendships, as well as respecting and caring for sexual and romantic partners. 

By drawing together works that explore the fluidity and complexity of admiration and desire from a queer intersectional lens, 'I Admire, I Desire' celebrated the nuances of queer intimacies and identities. 

Image of a person with long curly brown hair to the left viewing a collection of polaroid photos of queer people and life. To the right is the words PLEASURE PROJECT with artists listed below.
Gallery with white walls and concrete floors. Central is a partial wall with a large scale painting of a person using a wheelchair in the shower. The words I Admire, I Desire are below the painting. There are black beams and lighting at the ceiling a
Four photographic works are affixed to a brick wall painted white in a room with concrete floors and a monstera plant to the left. The first photograph on the left features two queer people embracing. The second photograph features two different quee
Two people in a white walled gallery with concrete floors looking at photographic works affixed to the wall. The three photographs on the left are of a black trans man photographing himself in a mirror. There are also three colourful photographs on t
A collection of colourful artworks affixed to a white brick wall. There is a collection of four colourful printed digital drawings on the left; a central painting of a naked figure with extended curly pubs on their head, armpits, vulva and legs surro
White gallery with concrete floors featuring three white ceramic works on a white plinth and table, four photographic works and two large scale digital drawings affixed to the walls.

Exhibition partners and supporters

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